Alex and the New Teacher .

Alex looked at his new teacher. He was a tall man with spectacles and hair cropped so short that it seemed as if he was nearly bald. He wore a stern expression on his face and looked as if he had never smiled a day in his life.

Great, thought Alex.

He had a feeling that his days of enjoying year six were about to come to an end.

Mr Strictan removed his spectacles. “Good morning, children. I am Mr Strictan. I want you to know that I look forward to getting to know each one of you and that I am ready to help you whenever you need.”

His voice was quiet but strong, and it wasn’t stern at all, as Alex had expected. However, as he looked into his new teacher’s eyes he had a feeling that they didn’t miss much.

The assembly was held at the end of the day, so the students were dismissed to go home afterwards.

Alex headed back to his house, not knowing what he should expect the following day.

“Alex,” his mum said when he got home, “make sure you go and get your homework done before you go outside to play.”

“Yes Mum” replied Alex

Inwardly sighing, Alex thought, “why does mum have to remind me all the time.”

It was the same thing every day, he had to do his homework before he was able to do anything fun.